


A Flower at the Grave

by Verasteine



Category: Torchwood
Genre: First Time, M/M, World War I
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-07-04
Updated: 2009-07-04
Packaged: 2017-10-07 09:52:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/63970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Verasteine/pseuds/Verasteine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A night in the trenches.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Flower at the Grave

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [](http://thaddeusfavour.livejournal.com/profile)[**thaddeusfavour**](http://thaddeusfavour.livejournal.com/), [](http://kel-reiley.livejournal.com/profile)[**kel_reiley**](http://kel-reiley.livejournal.com/), [](http://mad-jaks.livejournal.com/profile)[**mad_jaks**](http://mad-jaks.livejournal.com/), and [](http://caladria.livejournal.com/profile)[**caladria**](http://caladria.livejournal.com/), for being willing to take a look and beta the shit out of this. Without you all, I could not have done this.
> 
> This is a romanticised story. As much research as I did to keep details accurate and historical, I had to handwave things that I just couldn't make myself put in. Life in the trenches wasn't fun, and it wasn't like this. That said, things like this did happen. Enjoy.

The first time he knelt in front of Peter Falkner, the young lieutenant looked down at him and his face was such a picture of disbelief, mixed with derision, that Jack laughed. He managed to stop himself from bursting out into laughter completely, shrinking the response to a chuckle, but it startled Falkner into taking a step back.

"I'm not like that," he retorted quickly, and Jack rocked back onto the balls of his feet.

"Not like what?" Jack swallowed the chuckle and smiled instead.

"I don't do _that_." Falkner's voice was short, his RP accent enunciating every word carefully.

Jack spread his hands out, palms up. "I didn't say you did."

Falkner scowled, looking him up and down, and all Jack could think was, _Oh, how much you want this_.

He pushed off from the floor and stood up in one fluid motion. "No one says you have to do anything."

"I don't do this," Falkner insisted. His eyes had followed Jack's move and he made no attempt to leave.

"Then don't do anything," Jack responded, pitching his voice low, and watching Falkner's eyes darken. "Let me."

"You--" He spluttered, indignant. "You'd do this to a man."

It was a clear accusation, one that embodied all that Jack could read on his face. "Just because I do, doesn't imply what you're thinking."

"What am I thinking?"

Jack smiled again, patiently, refusing to hold Falkner's upbringing against him. "Just because I get on my knees in front of another man, any man, doesn't mean I'm weak. Or that I want you to do that for me."

"Why do it, then?" There was a note of curiosity in the other man's voice now, just a hint of it.

He replied, honestly, "Because I want to make you feel good."

"You would be a nameless whore for me," the lieutenant concluded.

Jack took the insult in his stride. "If that's what you want to call it."

He had fought side by side with this man for two months now, seen Falkner tense every time he had thoughtlessly -- and later not so thoughtlessly -- stripped off his clothes in front of him in their underground quarters here in the trenches. Tonight, when Jack had come back from speaking with their commander about yet another big push they would try for in the morning, Falkner had been wound tighter than before. He wanted, needed, to resolve that tension; didn't want to let Falkner toss and turn that night and lose his focus in the morning.

"I don't understand, Captain."

_You understand perfectly_. "The offer's on the table," he said, keeping his smile from becoming a grin. "It's yours if you want it." Calculating, he turned his back on the other man and started getting ready for the night, placing his gun and holster on the makeshift nightstand next to the oil lamp. He was about to take off his shoes and slide into bed -- no undressing necessary now that the nights were getting so cold -- when Falkner spoke.

"Why?"

Jack only half turned. "I told you why."

"No." The derision wasn't truly gone, but there was a softening to his tone, and when Jack looked, to his features as well. Without the tension and haughtiness, he looked his age, so young and scared. "Why don't I need to reciprocate?"

Jack sighed. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and pull the young man close, run his hands through that blond hair and reassure the boy. This distance was so complicated, so much more difficult than what he'd grown up with. Sometimes, he felt like he was learning everything anew. "I want you to feel good." _I want to relax you_.

Falkner looked blank.

Jack sat down on the edge of his camp bed. "Listen, the offer's open. Forget about it if it makes you uncomfortable."

They were back where they'd started, Jack nearer the ground, the lieutenant looking down at him. "Sir," he said, reminding Jack sharply that he was Falkner's superior, "I've never--" He stopped abruptly and coloured.

_The kid's never had any kind of sex_. Jack sighed again. "It's okay," he said soothingly. "Don't worry about it."

Falkner looked at him for a bit, as if puzzling something out, then said, "No. I mean -- I've done -- _that_, but not-- this."

Jack smiled. "_That_?" he repeated. "Just say it, kid. You've been with a woman? With a man?"

"With a woman," Falkner replied, still blushing, looking at the hard dirt beneath his feet. "The boys, back in training--"

"They took you," Jack said, knowing that type of initiation rite. "Just showing you a good time, was it?"

The lieutenant nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Did you like it?" Jack asked.

Falkner looked up sharply, eyes wide. He spluttered for a moment, then said, "No," softly. Before Jack could ask anything else, he added, "I-- it was over fast and she... just... didn't say much."

_Working girl, probably_. "That your only time?" Jack enquired conversationally.

Falkner merely nodded, looking so embarrassed and flustered that, once again, Jack wanted to pull him close. To kiss him and show him how it should be done until the embarrassment became knowledge. He gave him a smile. "Every man in this company, every last one of them, started out that way. Even me. Each of them has had a first time, and by my reckoning, too many of them are boasting of first times that haven't happened yet."

Falkner's eyes met his. "You think so, sir?"

"Yes," Jack said, and in matters of this kind he really was the expert of all of them out there. Most of the soldiers out there were just boys, whose deflowering had happened with passing young girls who were risking their reputations, or with working girls in exchange for money, like Falkner's. And for many of them it had, indeed, not taken place at all. He leaned back against the makeshift wall, feeling the cold of the damp earth seep into his back. _So much death, so young, and for what?_ He couldn't prevent it. That pressure, of knowledge and enforced passivity, rested on his shoulders every time he looked at any of them. Falkner could die tomorrow, never having lived.

The man in front of him stared at his boots again, worrying a stone on the ground with his toe. "Were you serious?" he said softly.

"About what?" Jack said. "Giving you French lessons? Yes."

"Oh."

Jack pushed off from the bed and approached Falkner. He put a hand on his shoulder and watched him flinch. "Easy," he said softly. "I'm right, though, aren't I? You like me."

Falkner's teeth worried his lip. "Yes," he admitted finally, in a rush of hot breath that turned to fog in the cold air, even in the underground bunker. "I know it's wrong, but--"

Jack stopped him with a finger to his lips. "It's not wrong," he told the young lieutenant softly. "I don't think it's wrong."

"Do you, sir?" Falkner asked directly, in a sudden display of bravery. "Ehm, go with men?"

"Yes," Jack confirmed, leaving it at that because any concept of sexuality was beyond these times, in his experience.

"I don't know how," the boy blurted out, throwing Jack off track.

"What? How to be with a man?"

Falkner wouldn't meet his eyes again, but he nodded and Jack very gently reached out to tip his chin up. "If you want to, I'll teach you."

Brown eyes bored into his, and Falkner whispered, "I know how it's done. I mean--" Something akin to a sob forced its way from his chest.

"Ssh," Jack soothed, running his thumb over Falkner's bottom lip. He waited till the lieutenant's breathing calmed down. "You know the theory, and it scares you."

"Yes."

"No need. Me on my knees before you doesn't hurt in the slightest. And anything else is up to you."

A shudder went through Falkner, and Jack smiled at him some more. He debated kissing him, but decided that might be a liberty too far still, and instead sank to his knees again. He reached for Falkner's belt, undoing it slowly, giving him ample time to back out. He didn't, as Jack had expected, and by the time Jack pulled his underwear down far enough to free his cock, Falkner was already half hard.

He shivered. Jack slid his hands up the lieutenant's thighs, curling his fingers around the base of his cock and pulling, feeling Falkner harden quickly under his touch. Jack took him into his mouth, slowly sliding his head forward, relaxing his throat, until he took him in all the way.

Above him, Falkner made a stuttered sound and his hands came up to tangle in Jack's hair. Jack pulled back a little, hollowing his cheeks, and swirled his tongue. He moved one hand into Falkner's underwear, rolling his balls with his fingers, and sucked a little on the tip of his cock. When he took Falkner fully into his mouth again, the boy groaned hard and snapped his hips forward, coming down Jack's throat without warning.

It was thanks to Jack's vast array of experience that he wasn't caught fully by surprise; he managed to keep from choking and swallowed most of it down. Wiping a hand over his mouth, he stood, and caught Falkner staring at him.

Jack opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again to keep from making a glib comment that would only unsettle the man before him. "Okay?" he said at last.

"Y-yes," the lieutenant stuttered, and then his knees gave way.

Jack caught him deftly, helping him to sit on Falkner's own camp bed. "Easy," he said softly, and was surprised by how easily Falkner rested his head against Jack's shoulder.

They sat quietly for a few moments, then Falkner said, "Thank you."

_English politeness_. It made Jack laugh, and Falkner lifted his head from his shoulder, frowning and glaring at Jack.

"Sorry," Jack said, giving in to a two-month-long desire and reaching out to stroke the young man's blond hair. "You're welcome."

Falkner tensed under his touch, staring at him with a whole different look in his eyes; not the derision of earlier, but a confusion Jack couldn't place. He stilled his hand, about to ask what was wrong, when Falkner surged forward and kissed him.

He didn't so much kiss him as assault his mouth, pressing his lips hard against Jack's and crushing them together. Jack placed his hands firmly on Falkner's shoulders and held him just far enough away to soften the kiss, teasing the young man's lips apart until he gentled his assault and let Jack slip his tongue into his mouth.

It was with a groan that he pulled Jack backwards and down onto the camp bed; they tumbled off balance and landed half on top of each other, and without warning, Falkner bucked up, pulling away as fast as he'd started the kiss, scrambling back across the bed to stop against the earth wall.

Jack gave him his space, going over what had just happened calmly and carefully. "Peter," he said softly, once he'd figured it out. The lieutenant's eyes settled on him warily. "Anything else is up to you. I mean that."

"You're--" His voice was a whisper.

"Yeah. I'm hard for you," Jack said simply. He'd been hard from the first moment he'd knelt before him, wanting and wanting to give because there was nothing else he could do for him. Nothing else to give him. "It's not wrong."

Falkner shook his head. "I know. You said that." Jack couldn't tell which part of that statement the lieutenant believed. "If we get caught--"

"We won't," Jack said assuredly.

Falkner looked hesitant.

"It's up to you," Jack repeated again. "For all I care, I can sit here and get myself off, while you watch." Falkner stared for a moment, eyes wide in shock, and Jack grinned when he saw the image had hit home. He held out a hand. "Come here," he coaxed.

Falkner pushed off from the wall and shifted closer. Jack leaned in and kissed him again, slowly, sliding a hand onto the boy's neck. Falkner's hair was damp from where he'd been pressed against the mud wall, and he shivered in Jack's arms.

Jack pulled back. "Want to get a bit more comfortable?"

The lieutenant blushed coquettishly, as if that was the dirtiest thing Jack had said all night. "Okay," he replied finally.

Jack pulled them both up and started taking off his own clothes. He glanced in the young man's direction to find him mimicking Jack's example, and soon Falkner stood shivering and naked in front of Jack, his hands clasped over himself as if to shield his dignity.

Jack was oddly touched, yet amused. He reached out and tugged Falkner's wrists away. "Nothing I haven't seen before," he said, voice low with arousal, settling a hand on Falkner's hip and bringing their bodies into full contact.

Falkner's arms came up around him almost involuntarily, and Jack felt him tremble. He embraced the lieutenant and held him still, saying softly in his ear, "Let's get warmer."

Falkner nodded, not speaking, and Jack pulled back the covers on the lieutenant's camp bed, sliding in underneath them. Falkner joined him a second later, a light in his eyes that Jack hadn't seen before. He settled one experimental hand on Jack's hip and ran it up across Jack's chest with a determination that made Jack chuckle.

In reply, Falkner kissed him. Jack closed his eyes, wanting to forget for a moment, and rolled onto his back, pulling Falkner on top of him. His erection rubbed against the lieutenant's leg; the friction was exactly what Jack needed and he groaned softly.

Falkner pulled back, staring at him with anxious eyes. "J-- Jack?"

Jack reached up and smoothed Falkner's blond locks. "Stop thinking. I'm fine, okay?"

He got a curt nod in reply, and Falkner set his face in that determined look again. "All right."

Jack pulled him close again, kissing him once more. He felt Falkner stir against his thigh, and smiled into the kiss, feeling desire heat his body. "Hey," he whispered filthily between kisses, "you want," he ran his tongue over Falkner's stubbled upper lip, "to be inside me?"

Falkner tensed. For a moment, Jack wanted to curse this need to take everything at a snail's pace. "No pressure. If you want, you can have."

"You want that?" Falkner stared again, eyes wide with surprise, voice full of incredulity. "Why?"

This academic curiosity of his would grate if it weren't so adorable. Jack resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "I like it," he explained patiently.

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh," Jack parrotted, taking the sting out of it by running his fingers through Falkner's hair again. "It's up to you," he said more gently, holding Falkner's gaze. "I'm fine with whatever."

There was a trust you inspired when laying the decision in the other's hands, Jack knew that from his con man days. Falkner looked back at him, and Jack saw the downside of the equation in his eyes. Daunted and intimidated, Falkner struggled with the pressure of having to make the decision by himself.

"Yes," he said at long last.

Jack pulled his head down for a long kiss, swiping his tongue over the young man's teeth.

"What do I do?" Falkner asked in a low tone as they drew apart, blushing once more.

"I'll do most of the work," Jack replied, "but you can start with sucking on these." He touched his fingers to the lieutenant's lips. All he got in response was more blushing and faintly raised eyebrows.

"Lubricant," Jack explained. "Like in a gun," he clarified, and a vague understanding seemed to dawn. Falkner sucked his fingers into his mouth and Jack suppressed a groan. There was so much he wanted to show him; how good it could feel, all of it, how much the human body was designed for pleasure. They only had now, probably.

Falkner swirled his tongue around Jack's fingers, and this time he couldn't suppress the soft moan that escaped him. Before Falkner could pull back in shock, Jack brought his free hand up to caress the young man's jaw in reassurance. Falkner suddenly smiled around his fingers, and Jack pulled them slowly out of his mouth.

He grinned, unable to resist. "You wanna watch?"

It was a gamble, but there it was again, that darkening in Falkner's eyes. Jack pulled back the scratchy blankets and shifted Falkner off himself, then turned so they lay on their sides, facing each other. Jack pulled one leg up and reached down to press his saliva smeared fingers inside himself, loosening his muscles and opening himself up.

Falkner made a guttural sound, a low groan somewhere in the back of his throat, as if he was afraid to articulate it. Jack looked at his eyes, fixed on what Jack was doing. The expression of Falkner's face was hard to read, but his body was taut and he seemed mesmerised.

"This is so good," Jack whispered hoarsely, pulling Falkner's attention up to Jack's face. "You have no idea."

Falkner stared, holding Jack's gaze, his eyes only darting away once, to flick down to Jack's erection and his fingers. Jack smiled widely. "Do you want to do this? To me?"

Falkner trembled, a full body shudder. Jack pulled his own fingers out and took Falkner's hand, taking his fingers into his mouth and coating them liberally with saliva. Then he guided the lieutenant's hand down to his opening. "Press your fingers inside, slowly," he coached, and felt pressure as Falkner complied. The young man held his hand still, as if unsure what to do next, and Jack whispered, "Move." A slight pumping motion, and Jack sighed with anticipation.

Falkner pulled his fingers out, seeking Jack's eyes once more, blushing and hesitant. Jack asked, "Want to try putting your cock in there?"

For a moment, Falkner tensed again, but then he slid forward, putting their bodies into contact, and crushed his mouth to Jack's with an undeniable passion. Jack kissed him, pulling him close and rolling onto his back, shifting to keep the two of them from falling out of the narrow camp bed.

What he wouldn't give for his nice flat, back in Cardiff, a ceiling over his head and dry sheets instead of this constant damp and rain... It was cold here, and Jack reached out blindly to pull the blanket back over the two of them. He spread his legs, letting them fall open. As easy as it would be for Falkner if Jack just turned over, he rejected that idea, wanting to see Falkner's face. He brought his hand to his mouth, spitting, and reached down to coat Falkner's cock. Falkner hissed and jerked, and Jack smiled. "This is the easy part," he said softly, and guided the young man to his body.

The first thrust hurt because Falkner didn't know to go slow, but Jack rode it out and let the burn pass. He brought his hands up to dig his fingers into Falkner's shoulders, and the young man pulled out a little, then thrust back in. Jack arched his back, stifling his moan, wrapping a leg around Falkner's waist and clenching his thighs.

Falkner stared, opening his mouth like he wanted to speak but didn't know what words to say. Jack freed a hand and ran shaky fingers through blond hair. "You're good," he whispered hoarsely, "just like that, like this." Falkner responded to the encouragement, thrusting in with more strength and Jack laughed softly. "Oh, yeah, you're a natural."

"Jack," Falkner whispered, and Jack realised Falkner had uttered his name only once before; it sounded strange from his tongue. "Oh, god."

"Yeah," Jack replied, then gasped in pleasure as the young man inadvertently brushed his prostate. "Do that again."

Falkner was a quick student, repeating the thrust at the same angle. He probably didn't know what he was aiming for, but seem to get from Jack's gasps and groans that there _was_ something to aim for. Jack reached out and took Falkner's hand, putting it on his cock, wrapping his own hand over Falkner's. "Touch me," he instructed, and Falkner pumped his hand up and down, his motions becoming erratic, and for one brief moment he looked horrified.

"Wha--" Jack began, as the lieutenant said, "I'm going to--" He broke off, seemed to want to pull out of Jack's body, frantically shaking his head. He bit his lip, drawing blood, and in a flash of clarity, Jack understood. "It's okay," he said in a rush, "Peter, it's meant to happen like this, just let go, it's okay, it's fine--"

With a choked sob, eyes squeezed shut, Falkner came, hard.

His arms were shaking where he was keeping himself from collapsing on top of Jack, and he shuddered throughout his body. When he opened his eyes, he stared into Jack's and looked so completely lost that Jack felt a stab deep in his chest. "I'm sorry," Falkner whispered, pulling out with another shudder.

"No," Jack said, making his voice stern. "It's fine, it's okay." And when the lieutenant turned his head away, "Peter, look at me. That's meant to happen. I wanted that."

The shudders calmed down, and Falkner seemed to accept his words, the horror slowly dissipating from his face. He looked at Jack, then he glanced down at Jack's cock. "You haven't--"

"Come here." Jack took his hand again, moved it back onto his erection, sealing his own over it the same way he had before. "Like this." He slid their joined hands up and down, feeling himself get closer. "Just like this, so good..." He trailed off, unable to maintain coherency, then came over both their hands. He rode out the waves of the orgasm as Falkner continued to move their hands over Jack's cock, until he was spent.

Jack lay on his back and stared at the wooden boards that made up the ceiling, catching his breath, then he reached down besides the bed, found his undershirt, and cleaned them both up, before pulling Falkner, shaking quietly, down on his chest, tucking the blankets in around them.

Falkner stayed tense against him, for a while, then asked in a low voice, "You want to sleep like this?"

Jack lifted his head off the pillow. "Do you mind?"

Falkner smiled for a brief, fleeting moment, even as he blushed again. "No, it's all right," he replied, voice soft and slightly wonderous.

_Unfailingly polite_, Jack thought, and drifted off to sleep.

\--  
_finis_.


End file.
